In order to establish a network for the sustainable utilisation of biogenic raw materials, a large number of different stakeholders must be taken into account and optimally networked with each other. The actors are independent, clearly identifiable and addressable entities with equal rights that can appear as suppliers or consumers. Various resources, services (such as transport) and process steps (including warehousing) can be offered or demanded.

The aim is to find a procedure that can determine the optimal networking of the players. Optimality here means the right combination of (among other things) satisfaction of needs, sustainability and the fulfilment of overriding objectives such as flexibility and robustness (integration of new players or the loss or elimination of the same, changes in the environment, etc.).

The peculiarities induced by the application domain must also be taken into account: Biomass is a resource with limited availability in terms of quantity, time and quality, and its suitability for certain process steps varies at different stages and in different forms. For similar inputs, pre-processing, pre-treatment or conditioning steps may have to be taken into account in order to produce the same output. Furthermore, the possible utilisation paths are not fixed - neither in terms of participating actors nor in terms of sequence. The inherent temporal and spatial fluctuation will also have a particular influence; the availability and quality of a resource are dependent on time and location. As the underlying model is not known a priori, a modelling approach must be developed that is suitable for mapping the necessary aspects and supporting optimisation.